30 December 2008

Who's top of 2008's baby-name pops?

TOPPING the charts as the most popular name given to bouncing baby boys born this year in Peterborough is Mohammed, a testament to the city's diverse cultural population

The traditional Muslim name hit the number one spot for the second year running above names such as Jack, Thomas and Harry in the list compiled by Peterborough Register Office.

Mohammed, the name of the seventh century prophet who founded the Islamic faith, entered the national Top 20 chart for the first time in 2004 and continues to be a popular choice for parents naming their newborns.

Interim superintendent registrar Rosalind Yardy (53) said: "It certainly does demonstrate the diversity of the communities in the city. I think next year we're going to see different spelling variations highlighting the cultural percentage of the population in Peterborough, and I think we'll see more European names."

Clinching the title of favourite girls' name is Lily, a feminine name from the word for the white flower.

The girls' names in the top three spots were close contenders – Lily won by two and Isabelle pipped Grace to the second spot by three.

Ms Yardy said: "I think people are starting to prefer traditional names – I don't think they're being swayed so much by celebrity names.

"I imagine parents are thinking more about the child having the name not only as a babe in arms, but also as a child and going into adulthood.

"It shows less people are jumping on the celebrity bandwagon and are thinking more about their choices."

Dropping from the fifth position held for the last two years, the name Joshua has slid to 15th place in this year's charts.

Jon and Donna Sandall, from Werrington, Peterborough, fell in love with the name and gave it to their son born on October 3, after months of searching for the perfect name.

"Tradition wasn't a massive factor for us, nor were the Bible's religious connotations, we just liked the sound of it.

"Although it's sort of old-fashioned now, it seems to have come back into vogue."

He added: "It's a name he will have for the rest of his life, so picking it was quite a complex thing.

"We also liked the name Jack, but we knew it was an extremely popular name and didn't want him to go to school and be in a classroom with 10 other Jacks, so we settled with it as a middle name."

Peterborough's most popular: THE most popular names given to babies born in Peterborough's registration district this year, taking into account spelling variations. Last year's placings are in brackets.